It Never Ends
by montez
Summary: I felt the season opener needed a little extention at the end, this is my thoughts on what should/could have played out. And instead of a summary, I think the title says it all.
1. Chapter 1

It Never Ends  
By Montez  
Chapter 1  
Disclaimer: I only own the DVD, but I keep hoping.

_A/N: Loved the season opener, but just felt Steve wasn't quiet hurt enough by the end of the episode. I mean it was like once Max fixed him up everyone forgot he'd been stabbed AND lost consciousness at Max's place. The is my little extention at the end of the episode, for all the hurt/angst/comfort of the season 2 opener, I just felt like we could use just a little more. Hope you agree-Montez_

"Son of a…" Danny whispered to himself as he sat in his newly restored office, continuing to go over the SD disk he and McGarrett had found in the locker at the airport. Next to the day just a few days ago when his world went to hell, had he had such an emotional rollercoaster of a day.

Starting with Lt. Commander Joe White arriving to help clear Steve's name in the Governor's murder, to visiting said friend, again in jail, something that literally made him sick to his stomach every time he thought about it, to meeting with Chin, whom he hadn't seen in nearly a week, thus in Danny's mind, giving him the perfect sounding board for his frustration about how slow everything was going since he couldn't in good conscious rant and yell at Steve, who was still sitting in a Maximum security prison not far from the man who'd killed his father.

Then the call that he'd feared since Chin had closed the HPD car door on his partner, Steve had been shanked in prison by none other than Victor Hess and was currently being transported to the hospital with an abdominal wound. The day continued to just get better and better when he and Chin had confronted Hess who then totally floored them by stating that he'd stabbed Steve in order to give him a chance to escape to go after Wo Fat.

Next came a call from their quirky ME Max Bergman, telling Chin that he actually had McGarrett, unconscious, at his place. Relief flooded him the moment he'd walked into Max's place to see Steve standing on his own two feet, only for his emotions to steam roll over all that as he launched into a rant about how stupid it was for Steve to escape and take out a cop in the process. From that point the rest of the day was literally a blur as he and Steve met again with Lt. Commander White who introduced Steve to the man who'd owned the Japanese medal that John McGarrett'd had inside the Champ box. To realizing McGarrett Senior had left evidence against the Governor in an airport locker, that evidence being footage from a hidden camera in the governor's study.

That in turn gave them the clue that maybe that camera was still there and still recording and had possibly caught the Governor's murder on tape, clearing Steve. With that new evidence Steve was finally cleared by the Lt. Governor, Five-0 was reinstated and had inadvertently intercepted the sale and purchase of contents for a dirty bomb. And in all honesty Danny should have been happy, his partner had been cleared of all charges, Five-0 had been reinstated though still without Kono until IA finished their bogus investigation and he would be seeing Grace in a couple days, despite the disappointment that Rachel was not pregnant with his child but Stan's.

Glancing out the window of his office Danny could see the rest of his team, his ohana, finally all in one place together again, he should be happy, he should be out there with them, but he wasn't. The pain of what Rachel had done to him, mixing with the fear and anxiety of what his friends and partner had just gone through in the last week, Williams had never found himself more mentally and physically drained than he did at that moment and now this. How was he going to show what he'd found to Steve and just what did it really mean?

"Hey buddy you're getting behind, drink up." Steve said as he stepped into Danny's office, placing another beer on the desk.

Danny glanced up at Steve, his partner still looked awful pale and now seemed to have a slight sheen of sweat covering his face, but of course he had been stabbed that morning in prison and he'd lost a fair amount of blood to have passed out at Max's place. But Williams also knew his partner had been running on pure adrenaline and shear determination since waking up at the ME's place. Danny closed the laptop, not willing to place anymore on his friend at the moment. His forehead pinching as he studied Steve, "How are you doing?" Danny asked calmly, trying to keep his normally clipped tone down some, watching McGarrett something just seemed off.

Steve took a pull on the bottle in his hands, glancing out the window of Danny's office seeing Chin, Kono, Jenna, Komakono and the last person he ever expected to see, his former Commander Joe White. He then glanced back at Danny, trying to give a reassuring smile through the haze his vision had become over the last hour or so. "I'm good." Steve said taking a deep-breath, willing away the fuzziness starting to cloud his head.

Danny didn't miss the slight shake of his head Steve did as he took another drink then absently put the beer bottle against his temple, closing his eyes. "Fine my ass, you do remember you were stabbed this morning in prison, then passed out at Max's place, after taking out the ambulance crew and an HPD officer. Then you nearly got us killed jumping onto a moving boat, I seriously doubt you are 'fine'". Williams had stood and started around his desk toward his partner.

Glancing out his window, the rest of the team was smiling and laughing, everyone except for Joe, who was intently watching his former charge, a subtle nod of his head had Danny motioning for the older man to join him, it was scary how much the SEAL trainer was just like Steve, or maybe the other way around, regardless it only took a look for Danny to know the Lt. Commander understood he might need some help.

Steve jumped slightly when Danny touched his arm, something that never happened, you couldn't normally sneak up on Steve 'Super SEAL' McGarrett, but that's just what Williams had done. "Damn it Steve, you're burning up. When was the last time you checked your wound? You haven't even been to the hospital to have it check out."

Danny looked up as Joe stepped through the doorway, "You all right son?" White's voice, ever calm and even, concern flashing in his eye's as he looked at Steve.

Damn Navy protocol had Steve actually trying to come to attention when the older man walked in, even though throughout the whole day that detail had been nonexistent outside of the 'Sir' whenever McGarrett talked with Joe. "I'm fine Sir, just…"

Williams saw the moment his friend lost focus, crossing the few feet distance just before Steve's beer bottle slipped from his grasp and his legs gave out. Joe came forward quickly as well, helping Danny ease McGarrett to the floor. "Steve? Hey can you hear me?" Danny asked as he watched his partner struggle to keep his eyes open.

It was White's voice that pulled Danny's attention for a moment from his downed partner, "Chin call an ambulance." The older man had stepped to the door, calling back into the main room, Chin pulling his phone out as the rest of the team made their way to the doorway to see what was happening.

"Come on McGarrett open your eyes and try to convince me you're fine." Danny shook Steve's shoulder as he reached to check his pulse which was beating triple time, the heat radiating off his friend was almost enough to make Danny pull back. "Steve, open you damn eyes."

"Danny?" Steve whispered out, though his eyes were still closed.

"Yeah, man I'm right here; you take it easy we've got help coming. I'm going to check your wound; we need to see if you're bleeding again, you might have an infection, okay? Just take it easy." Williams glanced up at Joe, who was now knelling next to Steve's head, the older man placing his hand on one of McGarrett's shoulder just in case he started to struggle against Williams ministrations. "Damn it Steve." Danny mumbled as he pulled up his friend's shirt and saw the white bandage Max had put on hours ago soaked with blood, Steve's dark shirt hiding the blood that had soaked through. "Chin we need the first aid kit!" Williams shouted knowing they had more gauze in the kit that would help until the ambulance arrived.

Steve weakly pushed against Danny's hands as his partner started to slowly cut away the gauze with the pocket knife he'd pulled out. A hiss of pain drew the Jersey native's eyes to his friend, "Easy man, I need to see what's going on."

"Danny…" Williams had never heard that pleading sound come from his friend before. The hiss repeated itself as Danny pulled back the dressing seeing the small wound in McGarrett's abdomen was now an angry red, swelling around the edges along with the slow leak of blood mixed with pus oozing from the wound. "God, Danny stop…" Steve barely whispered trying to draw in a ragged breath past the pain the was consuming his body.

"It's all right Son, let him check you over, just take it easy helps coming." Lt. Commander Joe White's calm voice pulled Steve's attention from his partner to his Commander.

Danny glanced up as Chin came through the doorway with the kit, quickly dropping next to the younger man pulling out supplies as they heard the ambulance pulling up out front of the building. For a moment Williams noticed how Steve quieted at Joe's few words, damn if this wasn't one of those times he loved and hated Steve's SEAL training. Hating it because Steve took the older man's words as an order to virtually 'suck it up', but loved it for the same reason, his partner had stopped struggling and with his eye's pinched closed, his fists clinched at his side, his breathing ragged but focused, McGarrett was using the training he'd learned from White to get past the extreme pain he was obviously in.

His friend had gone so still that Danny couldn't help but call out to him as he wiped the area and placed another piece of gauze over the wound, the sound of paramedics coming through the office just background noise. "Steve, you still with me?"

"Yeah…" Was the only reply as EMT's pushed their way in, Danny and Chin backing away, Joe still near his charge's head, a comforting hand on the younger man's shoulder.

Danny watched as the medics started to work, recovering the wound, checking Steve's breathing, heart rate and blood pressure, he watched, terrified, when one of the EMT's pushed against the wound, securing the dressing with tape causing Steve's whole body to arch slightly before going deathly still, "Steve!" Danny couldn't stop himself from moving toward his friend.

Chin holding him back, "Let them work." Kelly said as Joe moved back allowing the medics to finish prepping McGarrett for transport.

"We need to move now, blood pressure's low and his fever is 104." The older EMT ordered as they lifted Steve to the stretcher, wheeling him through the office.

"I'm going with him." Danny shouted. He was worried for his friend and the last ambulance ride Steve had taken led to his escape that very morning.

"We'll meet you at the hospital." Joe said calmly as the rest of the Five-0 family watched their leader and second disappear through the glass doors.


	2. Chapter 2

It Never Ends  
By Montez  
Chapter 2  
Disclaimer: See chapter one

_A/N: All I can say is WOW! I knew you guys were awesome, but i'm totally floored right now; 37 story alerts, 12 story favorites and 19 wonderful reviews and that was only for the first chapter-Thank you doesn't seem enough. I just want to mention that a few people noticed a few (okay a little more than a few, but I was excited to post) typos in my first chapter. I think I've gone back and corrected most (hopefully all) of them and thanks to you guys who pointed them out without being mean about it-constructive comments are always welcome and those were most welcomed. Hopefully I didn't mess up that bad in this chapter. Thanks again for all the wonderful support, this is still a WIP but I have a good idea of where i'm headed and hope to be finished within the week. Enjoy-Montez_

Standing on the stern of Wo Fat's boat Steve felt his strength wavering slightly as pain again flared across his abdomen. He'd barely made it aboard said boat in a maneuver he'd done many times flawlessly while on active duty. When his stomach had made contact with the side of the yacht he'd nearly blacked out, thank God Danny was backing him up like always and took out the shooter, since he'd hardly had the strength to curl in on himself as the bullets pinged off the deck.

Pushing past the pain McGarrett quickly recovered before Danny or Chin noticed anything was wrong, they cleared the boat and as usual Wo Fat was nowhere to be found, but now standing on the back of the boat he started to feel sick, his mind clouding. Closing his eyes a minute he focused past the pain, just like Lt. Commander Joe White had taught him; he still had an interrogation to get through, which inadvertently gave them absolutely nothing.

But now, now he was letting himself bask in being surrounded by the people that meant the most to him, his team, his ohana. He now included Max Bergman in his little group for the simple fact the ME had patched him up earlier and instead of calling the police or an ambulance as most people would do finding someone bleeding and unconscious in their house, Max had called Chin and Danny, so Steve owed the quirky ME a huge debt of gratitude.

"You all right Son?" Joe White's voice drew McGarrett's attention.

Without hesitation Steve attempted to straighten is posture, "I'm fine Sir."

Joe just looked at the younger man, he could tell by looking at Steve that the former-SEAL wasn't 'fine' but he also knew how stubborn McGarrett could be, especially when trying to hide the fact he was injured or sick, he'd never wanted anyone worrying about him. So White just nodded and returned to his spot against the wall, back from the group, observing the impressive team McGarrett had assembled. The older man watched as Steve made his way to his partner's office. It was an unusual partnership, both men obviously cared for the welfare of the other and those of their fellow teammates, but having watched the two men together over the last couple hours, he could see they could read each other almost like you could family, like true brothers. Joe was glad the younger man had found someone he could trust unconditionally, he knew trust was one of those things Steve had always struggled with.

Stepping through Danny's office door, Steve took a deep breath to will away the dark-spots dancing in his vision, caused by the pain in his stomach as well as the adrenaline dump he was quickly coming off of. He felt hot and cold at the same time, could feel the sweat dripping down the back of his neck. Steve knew he should be checked out by a doctor, hell he hadn't really been treated for the wound Victor Hess had inflicted that morning and he knew he'd passed out at Max's from blood loss that technically hadn't been replenished.

"Hey buddy you're getting behind, drink up." Steve made his way to Danny's desk and successfully placed the beer bottle on top, stepping back, taking a pull from his own.

Steve watched as Williams closed the laptop he'd been working on before looking up at him, "How are you doing?" Danny's normally brash voice slightly softer, McGarrett noting the worried look in his partner's eyes.

"I'm fine" Steve answered, even as wave of pain sparked through his body, his vision blurring again as he tried to shake it off by placing the cooled bottle against his head, closing his eyes a moment.

"Fine my ass, you do remember you were stabbed this morning in prison, then passed out at Max's place, after taking out the ambulance crew and an HPD officer. Then you nearly got us killed jumping onto a moving boat, I seriously doubt you are 'fine'". Steve could tell Danny was moving, his voice shifting from in front of him to his side, but as his mind continued to cloud Danny's voice and presence seemed to drift away from him.

McGarrett jumped slightly when he felt a touch on his arm, damn how did Danny get that close without him knowing it? "Damn it Steve, you're burning up. When was the last time you checked your wound? You haven't even been to the hospital to have it check out." Steve could vaguely hear the concern in his friend's voice as his world seemed to be fading some.

"You all right Son?" Steve turned as he heard Commander White's voice; his military training trying to take over again as he attempted to straighten his posture, but also thinking in the back of his mind that he'd answered that question already.

"I'm fine Sir, just…" As the words left his mouth, Steve knew he was anything but fine, he could feel all his energy drain from his body, he faintly heard the beer bottle he was holding hit the floor near his feet as he felt Danny's arms grab him.

Another set of arms grabbing his other side as he felt himself lowered to the floor. Danny's worried voice barely making it through, "Steve? Hey can you hear me?" God when did it take so much energy to keep his eyes open? Steve thought searching out his partner's face. McGarrett thought he heard another voice in the background but was solely focused on Danny's, "Come on McGarrett open your eyes and try to convince me you're fine. Steve, open your damn eyes."

"Danny?" Steve barely managed to mumble, unable to understand the rest of what his partner was saying because at that moment pain again flared through his body as he felt a pressure near the wound on his stomach. McGarrett's world grayed when he thought he heard his former Commander's voice, Steve started to draw in even breaths, though it was almost impossible through the pain, he focused inward, telling himself he could get past it, he needed to focus. He'd heard someone say help was coming, but he knew help was already there, Danny was there, he had his back like he always did. Steve knew he could take comfort in that even as unfamiliar hands started to press against his wound, Steve knew Danny was there and wouldn't let anything happen to him. That was the thought that allowed Steve McGarrett to give into the pain and the darkness that accompanied it.

H50H50H50H50

He'd never seen his partner so pale and still before. In all the time Danny Williams had known Steve McGarrett he'd never seen him look vulnerable and that was the one thing that was unnerving the Jersey native the most. Steve and vulnerability did not belong in the same sentence, the same thought, much like pineapple and pizza, never the two should meet. But that was the only word that filled Danny's mind as he watched the ragged breathing of his partner, the paleness, the dark-hair plastered to a too sweaty forehead.

104 was not a good temperature for anyone, hell the one time Grace's had ever been that high Danny had found himself pacing a treatment room in one of Jersey's hospitals terrified that something terrible was happening to his baby girl, she'd only been three at the time. It turned out to be nothing more than a virus that had to run its course. They'd treated the fever, gave her some fluids so she wouldn't become dehydrated and sent her home after twelve heart-wrenching hours with assurances that she'd be fine and by the next day she was back to her spunky self, though that fear had stayed with Danny.

However a 104 temperature in an adult was a totally different matter, it was not a good thing, considering the obvious infection Williams had seen that had set up in his best friend's abdominal wound. Yes Victor Hess had told him and Chin that he'd avoided any vital organs, but he was sure Hess didn't worry about sterilizing the blunt instrument he'd stabbed Steve with, that he may have set it up for Steve to escape, but Victor really wouldn't have cared if Steve succumbed to blood loss and infection. Danny rubbed his eyes as he prayed that now that things were slowly, oh so slowly working their way back to 'Five-0' normal that he wouldn't lose his partner now, especially with all the crap from Rachel weighing on him as well, he didn't think he could take anymore blows, mentally or emotionally right now.

They were still three minutes out from the hospital when Steve's body stiffened on the stretcher, "He's seizing!" Shouted the EMT in the back as the driver radioed in the new development.

"Steve!" Danny called out as he reached for his friend, the medic stopping his motion with a shake of his head, readying a syringe with the anti-seizure medication that the hospital had radioed back.

The moment they pulled into the hospital parking lot the seizure stopped, but so did Steve's heart.


	3. Chapter 3

It Never Ends  
By Montez  
Chapter 3  
Disclaimer: See chapter one

A/N: _Maholo! to all of you again for your wonderful response. Okay I'll warn you know, I'm extending your aniexty just a little longer, but this is** not** a death fic, already did that, don't think I could handle doing it again. I promise Steve will be back in the next chapter which is currently being written. Thanks again for all your support and enjoy-Montez_

Some things in life you should just never have to experience or see, like the first time your child flips themselves off the swing set, because you weren't fast enough to catch them, landing on their back and are silent for those few heart-stopping seconds before they start crying. As a cop the first time a person is lying, bleeding on the ground because you had to fire a bullet into their body so they didn't fire one into yours. The first time you have to deal with a murdered child or the first badly burnt corpse. Then there is the one Detective Danny Williams just experienced, his partner, his best friend being rushed down a hospital corridor with a doctor straddling him doing chest compressions to restart a stilled heart.

That is the image that is currently burned into Danny's mind. Steve's heart had stopped just as they pulled up to the emergency room doors and when the doors to the ambulance were opened everything became a blur, except for that last image as the gurney disappeared through swinging doors. A part of Danny's brain demanded that he follow his friend, but another part shouted at him to sit down before he fell down. Over the course of a week Danny's life had gone completely to hell and with this last incident, with Steve collapsing in his office with a raging fever and infection, then his heart stopping, it seemed as if the world was finally crashing down on the Jersey native as he felt his own strength give out.

"Sir, are you okay? Can you hear me?" Danny was vaguely aware of someone talking to him, someone whose voice he didn't recognize and for the first time, probably in his life, he couldn't put together a coherent response. The young woman knelling next to him looked very concerned but he just wasn't quite sure why.

He noticed her turn away from him as he tried to follow her gaze, several people were quickly making their way down the hallway, then his line of vision was suddenly filled with a very familiar face. "Danny?"

"Chin?" Was the only response Danny's overworked mind could process as he stared at the worried face of his friend.

"Danny, are you okay? What happened?" Chin reached up and gently squeezed the younger man's forearm; the lost, confused look coming from the blond detective was not something the older man was use to seeing on the normally put together man.

A million things and nothing seemed to fill Danny's mind as he tried to recall how he came to be sitting on the floor propped against the wall. It was then everything seemed to snap back into place as Williams jerked his head up toward the doors Steve had disappeared through, Danny's breathing increased as he attempted to push himself up off the floor. "Easy man…" Chin said, helping Danny to his feet, though keeping him against the wall.

"Steve…they took him…" Danny ran his hand through his hair, the image of the doctor looming over Steve again flashed in his mind causing Williams to bend over at the waist, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

Chin was starting to get a very bad feeling about what was happening, they'd watched McGarrett loose consciousness on the floor of Danny's office, but obviously something had happened on the way to the hospital for Danny to be almost incoherent. "Come on, you need to sit down." Kelly glanced up at Joe White, who'd come to the hospital with him and Kono, motioning for him to help get Danny to a chair.

The young nurse who'd been knelling next to Danny stepped up once Chin and Joe had gotten Williams to a chair, handing Kelly a cup of water and a damp cloth, "If you need anything I'll be right over there." She motioned toward the nurse's station just a few feet away.

"Mahalo." Chin responded, placing the cup in Danny's hand. "Drink", was the only word he said as he moved Williams' hand toward his face.

He'd felt something being placed into his hand and felt his arm being raise, hearing Chin tell him to 'drink' Danny took a small drink of the cool liquid in his hand. His breathing was starting to ease some, but all he could see was Steve, 'dying'. "His heart stopped." Danny whispered uncharacteristically.

"What?" Chin responded, not sure he'd heard correctly.

Taking a deep-breath, Danny tilted his head back, closing his eyes a minute, "He had a seizure in the ambulance and just as we got here…his heart stopped." Williams opened his eye's looking at the shocked expression on Kelly's face. He could just see Steve's former Commander behind Chin, the older man running his hand over his face that still held that composed mask he'd seen Steve wear many times, not letting anyone know what he was really feeling. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kono sit down in a chair a few feet away, her hand over her mouth, disbelief on her face as well.

Taking another drink of the water in his hand Danny seemed to notice they were missing some people, he knew Jenna, Max and Kamakona had been at the office as well, he wondered a moment where they were, "Where's Jenna and the others?"

Chin moved to sit in the chair across from Danny now that the younger man didn't look like he was gonna pass out, "Jenna got a call just after you guys left, something about a contact getting back to her, that she had to take it and would be here as soon as she can." Chin shook his head slightly as he continued, "I think seeing McGarrett unconscious twice in one day kind of freaked Max out some so Kamakona offered to take him home, said he'd call later to check on Steve. Now what happened?"

Leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, Danny tried to put into words what happened once they left the office. "From what I could figure out, Steve's blood pressure wasn't good, too low one of them radioed in, his temp was still around 104 which isn't good either, then we were just a few minutes out and he had a seizure…" Danny took his head in his hands, staring at the floor a minute before finishing, "then his heart just stopped." Williams looked up, clasping his hands together.

Lt. Commander Joe White had taken a seat a few chairs down, he still felt somewhat out of place with this group of people even though they'd seemed to have accepted him based solely on the fact he'd come to help Steve and that Steve trusted him. He'd known the first time he'd seen his former trainee outside of jail, after he'd been stabbed, escaped police custody and apparently been unconscious once already that day, something Joe didn't find out about until he'd heard the very nervous acting Medical Examiner mention when they'd been at the office after the case, he knew Steve wasn't as 'fine' as he tried to have everyone believe.

When he'd watched Steve make his way into his partner's office he could tell the young man wasn't well, could see the sweat the covered his face even in the air-conditioning of the offices. When Detective Williams had made eye contact with him through the glass wall of his office, Joe knew something was wrong and knew Steve's partner had noticed as well. So the fact McGarrett had collapsed in that office didn't surprise him a whole lot, he'd expected it at some point knowing the injury Steve had suffered and that he'd been running on adrenaline only the whole day, what did shock the commander was the heat he felt radiating off the injured man.

Yes Steve had been trained to push pain aside, push exhaustion aside, to push injuries aside until a mission was completed, but everyone knew infections were not to be ignored, nor were fevers since that could drop a man quickly, possibly putting others in danger and extremely high fevers in adults were never, ever a good thing. So White didn't know if it was his presence that caused Steve to continue to hide just how hurt and sick he was, or if it was just the younger man's stubborn streak, but the moment he'd come down the hospital hallway and seen Steve's partner sitting on the floor, White felt his own heart clinch. He viewed Steve as a son, knew that when he'd started training the younger man that Steve had felt abandoned by his own father, which Joe knew all along wasn't true, so he'd tried to be there for Steve, not only because John McGarrett had asked him too, but because he saw that Steve needed it, even if he didn't admit it. So to think that that young man's heart had stopped, that after getting him cleared of all the charges against him, to see him so relieved to have his task force, his team back, Joe couldn't fathom the chance that they could be losing him now.

Silence had settled over the group as minutes turned into an hour, an hour into ninety minutes. Danny was now standing staring out the window toward the parking lot, still trying to grasp what had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Chin was sitting next to Kono, who had her head leaning on his shoulder, dealing with her own legal ordeal, but terribly worried about her friend. Chin was watching Danny and Joe, he could read Danny's feelings plainly on the younger man's face, he was terrified but trying to not show it, Steve was his partner, his friend, his brother and he'd watched Steve's heart stop. Chin knew nothing other than Steve pulling through this would help Danny, not with everything else the Jersey-born detective had been dealing with the last week.

Joe was a different story to Chin, he wasn't joking when he'd asked Danny earlier in the day if they could 'blame him' for Steve, he'd never seen two people so much alike in how they held themselves and conducted themselves than Joe and Steve. Chin concluded it had to been the SEAL training, but where Steve had started to come out from behind that training some over the last year, Joe was much like Steve was when they'd first started working together, intense was the only word for it, but where McGarrett had been a 'scary' intense, White seemed to be more of a 'calm' intense. Steve was a jump in, guns-blazing type, where Joe gathered all the facts and went smoothly where he needed to go. Kelly couldn't help an inward chuckle, despite the situation, wondering if Joe was a glimpse of what Steve might be like when he got older, but he quickly shook off that thought realizing Steve was too much of a 'jump into the middle of the action' person and he probably wouldn't slow down a bit, until something slowed him down, Chin just prayed that something didn't happen today.

Four sets of eyes looked up as a white-coat clad doctor emerged from the emergency room doors, "Family of Steve McGarrett."


	4. Chapter 4

It Never Ends  
By Montez  
Chapter 4  
Disclaimer: See chapter one

_A/N: Again a huge THANK YOU! for all your support.-Montez_

"Family of Steve McGarrett." The doctor spoke as he noticed the four people taking up one side of the waiting room look up, three of them standing, the fourth walking purposely from the window toward him.

"How is he?" Danny spoke first; his hand's clinching in front of him.

"Mr. McGarrett is currently in surgery." The doctor started, but paused as he watched the blond man wave his arm in front of him.

"He's alive?" Danny was sure he'd lost his friend, something in him told him Steve would fight, but Williams couldn't get past that image.

"Yes, we were able to restart his heart shortly after his arrival, his blood pressure was dangerously low, with the blood loss he experienced, the obvious exhaustion that he appears to have been dealing with for several days, the fact it doesn't appear he's ate much, add in the infection and extremely high fever, his body just couldn't keep dealing with all that and it caused his heart to stop. We started pushing fluids and blood down here, started taking measures to bring his 104.7 temperature down, but in order to help with that he's been taken up to surgery to clean out the infection that has set up in his abdominal wound. Which I would like someone to explain to me how he came by that wound and why he hadn't sought medical treatment for it?" The doctor looked at the four concerned faces, wondering if he was going to get an answer to his question, his patient wouldn't be in the serious condition he was in if he'd sought medical help when he was first injured.

Chin spoke up when he saw Danny starting to get angry at the implications of why Steve was in the condition he was currently in. "It a long story Doc, one we don't have time to get into now, we just need to know Steve's going to be okay."

"Well it looks like someone tried to patch it up, but since it wasn't cleaned out completely the infection took hold. Its requiring surgery to debride the area and hopefully stop sepsis from setting in, your friend is in for a few really rough days. The surgical suite waiting area is on the third floor, the surgery could take a few hours, I'm sure the surgeon is going to want to make sure they removed all the infection from the effected area and make sure it hasn't spread." The doctor concluded.

Again it was Chin that spoke as Danny turned and headed for the elevators, "Maholo Doc." He then followed Joe and Kono down the hallway, the four stepping onto the lift, heading upstairs to wait again.

5050505050505050

It was nearly midnight before there was anymore word on Steve. Danny had restlessly paced nearly the whole time only pausing when Chin offered him a cup of coffee. Joe sat stoically near the window, intently studying his own cup of coffee; Kono was curled up on the small, uncomfortable couch, dozing occasionally while Chin sat near the entrance, making it easier for him to do the coffee runs of which he'd just returned from his third.

It was another voice, another doctor, green-scrub clad this time that had them all standing. "Is there a Danny Williams here?" The older man asked.

"I'm Danny, is this about Steve?" Danny asked, at first confused as to why he was being called by name, but then he remembered months ago that McGarrett had told him that he'd put Danny as the emergency contact on all his official papers. Since Steve had sent his sister back to LA he hadn't wanted her to worry every time he got hurt and he needed someone here, that he trusted to call the shots if he couldn't. Williams hadn't though much of it, not considering the weight of the seemingly small gesture until right at this moment.

The doctor nodded, "If you'd follow me we can discuss Mr. McGarrett's condition in private."

Danny shook his head, motioning around the room at the others, "It's Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett and we're the only family Steve's got on the island, whatever you have to say they can hear." Williams took a deep breath, not sure by looking at the doctor if he was going to give them good news or bad.

"Please have a seat." The older man stated, moving toward a chair himself. "I'm Dr. Kim, Commander McGarrett made it through surgery, though we had some difficulty keeping his blood pressure within a satisfactory range, but considering the blood he lost I'm honestly surprised he'd been able to function after suffering the wound he did. We were able to clean out all the infection, flushing the area thoroughly. We've left a drain in just in case and have started him on a broad-spectrum antibiotic. The next few hours will tell us whether the infection entered his bloodstream, but I believe we were able to get it cleared out in time. Over the next twenty-four hours he will continue to receive blood to replenish what he lost, as well as hydration which both will obviously help stabilize his blood pressure. If he doesn't show any further signs of infection within the next twelve hours we'll move him to a regular room, but right now he'll be in our ICU so his temperature can be monitored as well, but once most of the infection was removed his temperature did drop to around 103 and is slowly going down."

Danny ran his hand over his face, "So he's going to be okay?"

Dr. Kim nodded, "With some rest Commander McGarrett should make a complete recovery yes."

Williams ran both hands through his hair, glancing at Chin who was smiling, then Kono whose eyes were bright with unshed tears of relief. Then Danny caught Joe White's face, the older man smiling slightly nodding his head, almost like he knew Steve would be fine, but Danny saw the worry in the SEAL trainers gaze. Somehow Danny knew there was more to the relationship between White and McGarrett than just the older man being the younger one's training officer. There was a trust he'd noticed in Steve's eyes when he saw who his visitor was back in jail, it was a trust that took a few months of working with Steve before he saw looking at him. It was a trust that told the person on the receiving end of it that McGarrett was letting you see more of him than the normal, everyday person, that you were privileged to see past the façade and see the real Steve McGarrett.

"When can we see him?" Danny asked turning his attention back to Dr. Kim.

"We'll be moving him from recovery in about a half an hour, someone will come and get you then and you can visit a few minutes every hour. Like I said, once we are fairly certain all the infection is indeed cleared out of the wound itself, he'll be moved to a regular room where you will be able to stay with him longer." The doctor stood as did Danny who reached out to shake the doctor's hand.

"Thank you." Dr. Kim nodded then turned to make his way back through the surgery wing doors.

Just as relief that Steve was going to pull through was finally settling over everyone Chin's phone rang, "Kelly, what? When?" Chin's unnaturally harsh tone caught everyone's attention as he met Danny's eyes. "No I'll be there as soon as I can, just make sure the place stays locked down and I want access to all video feed in and out of that block." Kelly disconnected the call and ran his hand through his hair, taking a few steps back from everyone to try and get his bearings.

"What was that?" Danny asked, having a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer. They had just gotten the best news that day, well next to the news Steve had finally been cleared of Governor Jameson's murder, but he also knew something had to be really wrong to ruffle Chin's feathers.

"That was Duke; Victor Hesse was found murdered in his jail cell a short time ago." Kelly watched disbelief cross everyone's faces.

"What? How the hell did that happen?" Danny couldn't believe it, before Steve's collapse Danny had been considering him and Chin talking with Hesse again the next day about what he'd found on the SD card, what he hadn't shown McGarrett, the video of his father meeting with Jameson and Wo Fat. He was gonna ask Victor if he knew anything about that.

"I don't know yet, I need to head over to the prison, keep me posted on how Steve's doing and I'll be back as soon as I can." Chin said quickly, he hated leaving without seeing Steve, but knew his friend would want him trying to find out what happened to Hesse.

"Go; call when you get more details." Danny said as he patted Chin's back when the man passed him.

"That's the man that killed John and stabbed Steve in prison wasn't it?" Joe asked quietly.

Danny sat back down, his mind trying again to process everything that was happening. That seemed to be the norm lately; it was either no information coming in or all of it coming in at once. "Yeah, this is not good, Hesse was the last of our direct links to Wo Fat, now we're back to nothing and Wo Fat has all but disappeared again, it never ends."

Before anyone could respond Jenna Kaye came rushing into the room, noticing the worried almost defeated expressions her mind automatically jumped to the wrong conclusion. "Oh my God…" She brought her hands to her mouth, "Please tell me Steve's okay?" Kono reached the woman first, noticing the fearful look on her face quickly realizing just how they all must look to the analyst.

"Jenna, it's okay, Steve's going to be okay. The doctor just left a few minutes ago, they're gonna watch him close for a few hours and hopefully move him to his own room, but he said with some rest Steve should recover." Kono pulled Kaye over to one of the chairs, sitting down next to the woman.

"Oh thank God," She gave a nervous smile, suddenly feeling ashamed for jumping to the wrong conclusion, "I'm sorry, I just saw all your expressions and…if he's going to be okay, what's wrong?"

"Victor Hesse was murdered tonight; Chin just left to help with the investigation." Danny rubbed his eyes, God he was tired, he couldn't remember the last time he was this tired, but he couldn't think about sleep until he got a chance to see with his own eyes that his partner was indeed alive. "Chin said you got a call after we left the office, anything useful?"

Jenna's expression at the mention of Hesse's murder seemed one of genuine shock, but Joe noticed something in the younger woman's eyes that he couldn't quite place. It could be something or nothing; he hadn't known the young woman long enough to tell if it was a normal look or something more. He decided to file it away even though the trained military man in him wanted to call her on it, it wasn't his place and it could just be him trying to come to terms with everything he'd seen and done in the last twenty-four hours.

Kaye shook her head, "Not a whole lot, only that Wo Fat's left the island, which we already knew and that from some overseas chatter he's expected to land somewhere in Asia within the next few days, but no specifics."

Before anymore could be said a nurse stepped into the room, "The doctor has said it is okay for someone to come back and visit the commander now." Everyone looked toward Danny, knowing he needed to be the first to go back, he stood and followed the young woman.

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Stopping in front of a curtained off area the nurse again spoke softly, "You'll have about ten minutes."

Danny gave her a tired, half smile that didn't reach his eyes as he stepped through the curtain, his eye's landing on the still form of his partner, "Damn it Steven, you're gonna be the death of me yet." Williams mumbled as he stepped next to the bed, placing his hand on his best friend's arm.


	5. Chapter 5

It Never Ends  
By Montez  
Chapter 5  
Disclaimer: See chapter one.

_A/N: Again I continue to be totally floored by all the encouragement I am getting from you guys! You all are AWESOME! This is the next to the last chapter. Yes sadly chapter six will be it in this little adventure, but you guys made this adventure totally worth the ride. Maholo-Montez_

"You don't speak to your father nearly enough…"

"Listen to me Champ, I love you son, I didn't say it nearly enough…"

"My brother's dead isn't he! Isn't he! So's your father…"

"I wouldn't go searching into your families past too much; you might not like what you find…"

"I am not the enemy Steve, I protected you…"

"Listen to me Steven; Wo Fat is tying up loose ends, that means me, that means you. I'm giving you a way out to get to him first, take it Steve or we're both dead. Do you hear me Steve?"

Steve never liked the dark, as a child he would lay curled under his covers, even after his father told him to deal with it, that big boys weren't afraid of anything. It was then he'd started to learn how to hide what he feared. His Navy training had taught him how to hide things that much more, but the fear of the dark was always there. No matter how much training he had, no matter how well he knew he could handle himself, keep himself safe, that fear was always there, waiting for the small boy that lived in the recesses of Steve's mind.

The dark now was plagued with voices, voices of his past, of his present, voices that terrified him on a level that even he couldn't admit to himself and now, in the darkness, he was scared, he was alone. He couldn't see what was around him, he couldn't get his bearings, he couldn't think of what he should do next because the voices wouldn't stop, reminding him of his failures. His failure to save his mother, to save his father, to keep what was left of his family safe, it was because of him Mary had been kidnapped, he'd almost lost her too. But then to find out that one of the people he thought he could trust, that he'd allowed himself to trust could betray him so completely. Seeing the look on Jameson's face when he'd confronted her told him all he needed to know, confirmed all his suspicions, she had been indirectly responsible for all the pain and heartache he had gone through.

But now, in the darkness he was adrift, alone. He could so easily give up, let himself drown in it, but he was never a quitter and damn if he'd start now, so he pushed on, hoping to find his way out, pushing that childish fear of the dark aside. It was then he heard another voice, this one not taunting, this one like a life-line being tossed to him as he bobbed mercilessly in the harsh, rough sea of darkness. It was the only voice that could ground him, could give him hope, that could tell him that he was truly safe.

"Damn it Steven, you're gonna be the death of me yet."

Danny's voice cleared away the harsh voices, made the dark a little less scary, gave him the hint of light that he started toward. He could feel a pressure on his arm, he allowed himself to take comfort in that touch, the touch of his best friend, his partner, his brother.

"You keep fighting this Steve, don't you dare give up on me now, because once you're better I'm going to explain to you the finer points of not letting a raging infection go untreated. That you don't always have to play the tough guy, you should have said something, you should have…" Steve could hear Danny's voice pause, he listened to the deep-breath his friend took, "you can't do this to me again…you're gonna be okay, do you hear me? You rest now, but don't take too long, I might go through withdraw or something if I'm not shot at at least once a day…" Steve heard the faint, forced chuckle, the slight pressure tightening on his arm. "I'll be back soon and I expect to see those eye's open next time Steven." Another squeeze on his arm and he felt the presence of his friend move away, but the light Danny had brought with him remained, guiding Steve back through the darkness, the voices were gone, only Danny's remained. He knew he would be okay now; Danny was there, Danny was watching his back like always.

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Twelve grueling hours passed twelve short, ten-minute visits that allowed his friends to see Steve. They took turns, each taking short naps between their turns to visit. Danny went every other visit, Joe, Kono and Jenna taking the other times, Chin made it back to take the next to the last before the doctor shut them out to evaluate Steve's condition and make the decision whether he would be moved to a regular room.

Four hours ago McGarrett had been moved to a regular room; two hours ago Danny had finally dozed off next to his best friend's bedside, Steve having yet to wake up. However the doctor had assured them there was nothing wrong, that Steve's body had been through a major ordeal and was resting, allowing itself to heal.

Jenna had headed back to the office to help Chin on Hesse's murder investigation, conveniently enough the video cameras on Hesse's cell block had went down in the thirty minutes surrounding his murder, so that left Chin the work of trying to go through all the outside cameras to see if they could see anyone leaving. They'd ruled out another prisoner since the area of the prison Hesse was held in had fewer than twenty inmates and all of them were interviewed and accounted for, even the guards on duty had been cleared. It was as if Hesse was murdered by a ghost, but Chin knew Wo Fat was behind it, he just needed the proof so he had asked Jenna to help.

Kono had taken up residence on the small couch in Steve's room; it had really shaken her to see her boss, well former boss since she'd yet to be reinstated to 5-0, so sick, so vulnerable.

Joe White had taken a chair in the far corner of the room, but with a direct line of sight to McGarrett's face. Joe couldn't help but study just how bad the younger man looked. When Joe had first seen him behind that prison glass, he looked hollow, for lack of a better word. He hadn't talked to Steve since he'd transferred to the reserves and taken on the Governor's task force, to say he'd been somewhat shocked the McGarrett had left active duty for a 'civilian' job would be an understatement. He'd known when he'd first started training Steve that he'd be a career man, living, eating, and breathing the Navy. Steve had been one of the best the SEAL's had ever trained and when he'd moved to Naval Intelligence he quickly rose through the ranks there, being given the most sensitive of case's; capturing the Hesse brothers. Little did anyone know that assignment would lead to the downward spiral within the younger man's life that had lead to this very moment.

Over the few hours between seeing Steve in jail, to meeting him at that house, to being with him at Kamokona's shaved ice hut, Joe could only watch as Steve's mind and body slowly started to deteriorate. His body from the obvious trauma he'd endured that morning, his mind as he became desperate for the proof that he was slowly believing didn't exist that would clear him of the murder charges he faced, he was losing hope. Then when McGarrett confided in Joe his fears about his father, what John kept hidden from him, the constant fears of why his father had sent him away, not trusted him. White saw those small cracks in Steve's façade widen just a little more. Finally when the sirens sounded outside the small building they'd been held up in Joe's gut twisted at the cornered, wounded animal look that took over Steve's features. He would back the younger man in anything he was planning; he had just hoped it wasn't going to be something that would end up with his former trainee getting himself killed by HPD.

Joe had watched a little light return to Steve's eyes when Danny, Chin and the new Governor had arrived, literally just in time with the evidence they'd been so desperately searching for. Finally, once everything was over, when they were back in the 5-0 offices, White had seen a moment before everything fell apart again, it was a moment when Steve seemed relieved, almost seemed happy. Now as Joe glanced around the room, seeing two of the amazing group of people that McGarrett had seemed to have surrounded himself with, he could finally feel that despite what had happened over the last two days, what he knew was ahead for Steve and his team, that the younger man would be okay, really be okay.

A slight movement drew Joe from his thoughts; it was a turn of the head from the man in the bed that had the older man rising to his feet, covering the short distance. A soft moan escaped the injured man's lips as White watched Steve's forehead knit in pain, his eye's moving back and forth beneath closed lids. White reached his hand out, lying it on McGarrett's arm, mindful of the IV lines, "Steve, can you hear me Son?"

Joe watched as Steve turned his head toward him, he instantly felt the younger man tense under his touch. Noticing a spike in Steve's heart rate, White again spoke, hoping to calm the injured man, "You're okay, Son. You're safe and getting better. You're team is right here waiting for you but you take the time you need. You rest now, we'll be here." Joe felt the tension leave Steve's body, felt the younger man calm as he slipped back into a peaceful sleep.

505050505050

It was dark when Danny opened his eyes; he remembered dozing off around mid-afternoon. He'd been so tired, but he refused to leave the hospital until his friend was awake. He straightened, rubbing the ache in his neck from his awkward sleeping position and glanced around the darkened room. He noticed the small couch was now empty, he'd recalled Kono passing out just before him. Looking toward the bed he noticed Steve was still asleep, but was finally getting some of his color back, not looking nearly as deathly pale has he had all those hours ago when Danny had first seen him in the ICU.

That again was another memory Danny wished he never had to carry. It was not right for his Super SEAL, Rambo, run in with guns blazing partner to ever look so small, so weak. But that was exactly how Steve had looked in that cubicle, surrounded by machines and tubes. The only thing that had kept Danny from completely going over the edge when he'd finally seen the injured man was that Steve had been breathing on his own. He didn't know what he would have done if his friend had been hooked up to a ventilator, especially after the episode in the ambulance.

He'd tried to offer words of comfort in his own ranting way; Steve would understand that was Danny's way of dealing with things. To turn it into an over abundance of words, unless it was completely overwhelming then his words escaped him, like when they'd arrived at the hospital. He worried that his partner had yet to wake up, but he remembered the doctor telling them the best thing for Steve was rest and his body would dictate when it was ready to wake, so they were left to sit and wait.

This brought Danny's attention to the only other occupant left in the room, Lt. Commander Joe White. Williams looked toward the man who was watching him. Damn, Danny wondered if maybe SEAL training involved teaching the recruits to sleep with their eyes open or possibly not to sleep at all. Seeing Joe sitting in the same place he remembered, seemingly unmoved, it again reminded him of his partner. He'd often wondered if McGarrett ever really slept, or was just trained to rest without sleeping, it just added fuel to the tiny thought he'd had since meeting Steve that he was somehow superhuman. But of course the last couple weeks, especially the last two days had shot that theory all to hell; he'd watched his friend nearly fall apart with what happened with Governor Jameson, then his imprisonment, finally his stabbing and subsequent ragging fever and infection.

Shaking his head slightly Danny glanced between Joe and Steve, "Has he woken up any?"

"A few movements here and there, mostly when the nurses come in to check on him, but no he really hasn't woken up yet." Joe's quiet voice seemed to bring a since of calm over Danny, the man was like Chin in that aspect, they both had a tone of voice that could almost instantly put you at ease.

"Where's Kono?" Danny stood, stretching his back and flexing his knee, which had become stiff.

"Chin finally convinced her to go home with him a few hours ago. He said to tell you that he still didn't have much on Hesse's murder and that he'd be by in the morning to fill you in on what they do have." White stood, glancing at Steve then making his way toward Danny, who was now looking out the window at the darkened street below. "He's lucky to have you guys, but you especially." Joe again spoke softly.

Danny's head turned toward the older man, a little shocked at the revelation. White noticed the look and continued, "Chin told me some about you're ex-wife leaving and taking your daughter back home, that you guys were maybe getting back together. He told me how you stayed here to help clear Steve and even though I just meet you I can see on top of everything that was going on here, that it's also tearing you up to not be with them. Many men would have walked away for a chance at having a happy family again." Joe noticed a pained look cross Danny's eyes at the mention of a happy family. "Is everything okay?"

Williams rubbed his eyes as he thought of Grace, of Rachel and of the conversation he'd had with Rachel a few days ago, when she'd again taken the one dream he had, that he'd held so tightly to and shattered it. Yes he was happy Grace was coming back to Hawaii in a couple days, but it was killing him inside that he'd again lost Rachel and the baby before he'd really even had them. "Let's just say it's not meant for me to have a 'happy family'. Honestly the only thing that's been keeping me going the last few days is knowing I'd be seeing my daughter again soon when she and her mother came back here and trying my damnedest to get his crazy ass out of pile of crap he landed himself in." Danny motioned toward the bed and his still sleeping partner.

"And he trusted you go do just that." Joe commented. "I don't know if you know this or not, but Steve doesn't trust easily, but to see how much faith he was putting in you, it's good to know he has someone watching his back, especially with everything he's been through in his life. I know he probably wouldn't like me saying this, but he's always been a loner type, even during training, during missions, he'd be part of a team, leading them, but he would keep himself apart from the others. He trusted everyone he worked with to do as they were trained to do, but personally he never really trusted anyone, but he trusts you."

"And you." Danny countered. Again he'd known early on in their partnership that Steve had trust issues and he did realize just how important it was that he'd given his complete trust over to Danny in the months they'd been working together.

Joe nodded at Danny's comment, "Believe me it was a hard won trust. As much as John McGarrett was my friend, he did not do his son any favors in sending him away after his mother's death. By the time I saw Steve again as an adult coming into the SEAL training program he was a shadow of the boy I'd known. I tried to fill-in some of what John had left unfilled, but it took a long time before Steve accepted it, before he realized he did have someone he could come to if he needed. That was something his father had taken away from him and there was a part of me that resented John for that, but obviously from what I've learned just in the last couple days, John was dealing with a hell of a lot more than just his wife's murder, but really even that was no excuse."

Silence settled between the two men for a few minutes before Danny spoke again, "Do you know the first time I met Steve we both nearly shot each other." Joe's eyebrows raised as Williams continued, "I found him at the house while it was still a crime scene, in the garage actually. Neither one of us would lower our weapon to even retrieve our ID; we ended up doing it on the count of three. Now it's actually kind of funny, but boy then I didn't know what kind of crazy I was facing. Then just a few hours later, once he'd literally taken his father's case right out from under me, he got me shot because he went to see a suspect without back-up, telling me I was his back-up. By the end of that first case I hated him." Danny glanced back toward the bed, wishing more than anything his best friend would wake up so he'd know Steve was really going to be all right. "But now…" Danny trailed off.

"Now?" Joe prompted, seeing the pain and worry in Williams' face as the toll of McGarrett's continued unconsciousness played on him.

"Now I just wish the stubborn son of a bitch would wake up and things could get back to normal, well at least the warped normal I've been living in since I met him." Danny's voice drifted as he moved back toward the bed, watching his friend sleep.

Joe remained silent; making his way across the room he patted Danny lightly on the back, "I'll go get us some fresh coffee." Was all he said as he headed out of the room.

"You know after that whole Nick fiasco I wasn't sure I'd like any of your Navy pals, but Joe seems to be a pretty all right guy. I can see why you respect him so much." Rubbing his eyes, running his hand through his disheveled hair, Danny blew out a deep breath, unable to hide his fear any longer, "Listen to me Steven, I don't ask you for much and I know you don't normally listen to me, but I really need you to wake up soon. With everything that's gone on lately, I really don't know how much more I can take. I know I'm being selfish but you've got to give me something man or I'm gonna think you've really checked out on me."

Danny sat heavily in the chair next to the bed, the tough exterior he'd been trying desperately to keep up, but which had been slowly crumbling for days now, felt like it was slipping away entirely, leaving him vulnerable and Danny Williams didn't do vulnerable. Then just when he thought he was ready to slip off the edge he'd been dancing along for so many days, he heard a sound that brought him back to solid ground.

"Danno…"


	6. Chapter 6

It Never Ends  
By Montez  
Chapter 6  
Disclaimer: See chapter one

_A/N: Alas, we have come to the end of our journey. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you guys have been AMAZING with all the reviews, favorites and alerts. You gave me the push to take this just a little further than orginally was envisioned. This last chapter is all Steve and Danny. I'm leaving Joe and Jenna to the Five-0 Gods to see how their parts will play out. This was only meant to play out between the end of the premiere and the second episode, though I may have extended that little time line a bit with all I put Steve through. In my world it's another week before Steve meets with the new Governor (per episode two), because really could Steve ride and look that good on a horse if he was still healing from a stab wound? I don't know if my Steve and Danny are OC in this chapter, but I felt that as thier relationship on the show has progressed a conversation of this sort really isn't out of the realm of possibility. Anyway, Thanks again for everything and hopefully catch ya on the next wave!-Montez_

The sound of the ocean waves crashing against the shore, the smell of the salty air, the feel of the warm Hawaiian breeze blowing against his face. Never in his life had Steve McGarrett ever thought he'd miss it so much. Yes, he'd missed it dearly when his father sent him away all those years ago, but as with anything that reminded him of his home, of the heartbreak that was there, he'd pushed it aside, locked it so far away that he'd literally lost a piece of himself because of it's absence. His years in the Navy gave him another focus as he continued to perfect the barriers he'd place around himself. That's why he'd joined the SEAL's, then Naval Intelligence, so he could be constantly on the move, never really stationed in one place too long, to never again put down roots, because then that tied you to something, gave you something that could be ripped away from you and he had refused to ever have that happen to him again.

Then he returned home to bury his father and these islands ensnared him again, but he had a mission and tried to not allow himself to 'settle'. But then he met Chin, Kono, Danny and Grace and despite everything he'd done over the years to keep people at arms length those four people had worked their way into his life. So much so he couldn't begin to fathom not having them around him, in his life. He'd inadvertently allowed roots to form again, began to feel that maybe, just maybe there was a place he really did belong and surprisingly enough it had been the very place he'd been sent from so many years ago.

Yet again, in an instant, all that was nearly ripped away because of his own fears, fears that even though he knew he could trust the people he worked with, that he completely trusted Danny, he wasn't about to bring them down with him. He knew he was spiraling, hitting the bottom when he confronted Jameson, well he'd thought that was the bottom until he heard that sliding metallic door slam shut behind him. As the days passed he felt any hope he'd clung to slipping away, Danny was working to find something, anything that would clear him, but Steve knew it would be almost impossible since Danny had been stripped of his badge when Five-0 fell apart.

A ray of hope reappeared when Danny again visited him, bringing the last person Steve ever thought he'd see, Lt. Commander Joe White, probably the only man, besides Danny, that McGarrett trusted completely. But then, less than an hour later, when he was allowed outside the one hour of his day, the fear he'd had since stepping within the wall of the prison came true as Victor Hesse was allowed in the yard with him and stabbed him. Steve's hand drifted to the spot on his abdomen, lightly brushing against the bandages that still covered the area where surgeons had to go in and clean out the potentially deadly infection that he'd ignored that day.

But today was his first day out of the hospital after four very rough days. He'd been told by the doctor's just how close he'd come to death, about his fever, about his heart stopping from blood loss. Yet what had made the last couple of days he'd been awake so much more difficult was the unusual quietness from his partner. Through the haze and darkness of his unconscious state he'd clearly recalled Danny's voice being the one that had chased away the other voices that had tormented him in the darkness he feared so much. It was Danny's voice that had given a hint of light in that darkness that allowed Steve to work his way back to the land of the living, because he knew he could have easily given in to those voices, to the darkness, but his partner's voice, his partner's presence kept him afloat, had saved his life.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" Steve couldn't help the small smile that crossed his face as that voice again sounded from behind him.

"Shouldn't you?" Steve had been told how Danny hadn't left the hospital until he'd woken up; he'd seen the lines of fatigue and worry on his best friend's face when he'd finally woken up with a clear head.

"I wasn't the one the nearly died from an untreated infection that he thought he had to hide from everyone." Danny countered as he stayed back a few feet since Steve was standing knee deep in the waters of the Pacific. "You know you really shouldn't go swimming for a while, at least until the stitches are out."

"I know, I just…" Steve's voice trailed off, it was almost a minute before he realized Danny had made his way next to him.

"You just what?" Williams tone quieter than usual, the last weeks had been rough on everyone, but honestly Steve knew it had been the roughest on Danny. Gaining then again losing his family, all the crap Steve himself had dumped into his best friends lap. He almost felt he was letting the other man down by wanting, needing someone to talk to.

Steve glanced at his friend, then back toward the horizon, the waves coming in, surrounding him, shifting the sand under his feet. "I didn't know if I'd ever see this again." He knew Danny really didn't like the beach, the ocean, but to Steve it had become as much of a necessity as air itself. McGarrett looked down at the water that rolled around his legs, "I was beginning to think there was no way I was gonna get out from under those charges. The morning you brought Commander White to the prison I had actually woken up that morning all but resolved to the fact those four walls were going to be my life and I knew deep inside I wasn't going to make it very long, whether by someone getting to me or by my own means, I knew I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life like that."

Steve's voice had been so low Danny had barely heard it over the waves. The admission he heard from the man beside him nearly shook Danny's soul. His partner, his best friend had given up hope and only dumb luck, by a thought that had hit Williams, literally in the middle of the night one night, had given them the help they needed to finally clear McGarrett. But Danny still couldn't wrap his mind around the confession he'd just heard. "What is that suppose to mean? Did you think I was going to give up? I knew damn good and well you didn't kill the governor, Chin knew you didn't, anyone who really knew you knew you didn't do it and we were following every scrap of hear-say evidence we could and you're standing here telling me that you were willing to give up, just like that?"

McGarrett looked at his partner, could see the pain and anger his statement had caused and he knew he needed to try and explain it to Danny. He turned and made his way the few feet out of the water, to the two chairs that sat at the ocean's edge. Easing into one of them, the pain in his side subdued by the pain medication, but still there, Steve waited for his partner to take the chair next to him. "You know, one time you made the comment that my head must be a scary place." McGarrett glanced at Danny, then again toward the ocean. "You have no idea…Danny, the things I've done, I've seen…I know I was only locked up for a week, but everyday felt like a hundred years. Everything that had ever happened to me came back full force, why do you think I stay so active. With me it's a survival instinct, if I am confined for any amount of time; my mind does become a scary place, a very scary place."

Blowing out a deep-breath Steve continued, "I've lost everyone I've ever cared about, yeah Mary's still alive but once we were separated I lost that connection to her. I love her more than anything, but I really don't know her anymore. All I could see sitting in that cell for twenty-three hours a day was how I was pulling the people around me down with me and I couldn't deal with that, didn't want to deal with that. Kono was losing her career before she really had one because of me; Chin had to return to a department that would only ever look at him as a dirty cop and you…" McGarrett's voice trailed off. Yes there had been days in that seven day stretch that Steve had wished Wo Fat had put a bullet in him as he had the governor, it would have saved the people he cared about so much grief.

"What about me? You think that some how things' not working out this time with me and Rachel is somehow your fault? I was living a pipe-dream; I was looking for something that wasn't really there because I can't let it go, trust me that has nothing to do with you." Danny wanted to reach over and knock some sense into his friend, what the hell was Steve thinking.

"If I hadn't done what I did that night, you'd have been on a plane back home, that could have made a difference. Because of me you lost that shot at being happy again." The dark-haired man countered.

"Look, it just means Rachel would have had to tell me the baby wasn't mine to my face instead of over the phone. But honestly do really think I would have, could have walked away from my partner when he needed me the most, or better yet do you think I could have left this damn island and not looked back if you were dead? Did that deal with Mecca teach you nothing? I never, ever give up on my partner. I would go to the ends of the earth to protect the person that I expect to protect me, I would never stop trying to clear your name and I would never stop searching every square inch of this state, hell this damn planet if I had to to track down Wo Fat if you hadn't made it out of that prison alive…God Steven…" Danny stood again; the images and feelings of that day came flooding back again, that image of the doctor trying to restart Steve heart jumped to the forefront of everything else.

Anger flooded Danny at that moment, anger at everything that had happened, "Do you know I watched your heart stop? I had to watch as a doctor climbed up on that damn stretcher and pressed down on your chest with all his strength…ninety minutes Steve…for ninety minutes I didn't know if my partner, my best friend was still alive…do you know what that's like?"

Again Steve's voice was quiet, "Yeah, I do."

That response caught Danny off guard as he watched Steve stand up, covering the few feet between them. "I had to watch as you nearly suffocated to death, remember? I was in the room when those doctors gave you the antidote to counter your Sarin exposure, you had a tube down your throat pushing air into your lungs at the time Danny, so yeah I know what it's like to watch my partner, my best friend nearly die." Williams was silenced, he'd completely forgotten that just weeks ago he, himself had nearly died and that Steve had been right there.

"Okay…" Danny whispered, running his hand over his face, turning toward the ocean.

"Okay…" Steve countered, mirroring his friend's stance next to him.

"We just need to make a deal to never do that to each other again, everything else we can deal with as it comes. Do you think we could do that?" Danny knew he could happily live the rest of his life if he never, ever saw Steve near death again.

"You know I can't promise that, remember I did get you shot the first day I met you. How about we do our best to avoid those situations as much as possible? And if some how we can't we'll always know we'll have each others back, no matter what." It was that aggravating, mischievous smirk that infuriated Danny so much that Steve shot him.

Shaking his head, Danny couldn't help but laugh slightly, "Well I guess that's the best we can do."

Another moment of silence settled, before McGarrett turned and faced Danny, "Thank you."

"Thank you?" Danny faced Steve, crossing his arms, not sure what to expect next. "What are you thanking me for; I thought we just covered everything?"

A seriousness fell over Steve's features that Danny couldn't ever recall seeing and he'd learned nearly all of McGarrett's 'faces' over the near year they'd known each other. "For being there, for pulling me back." Steve glanced at his sand covered feet, emotions and feeling were never something he could easily talk about, but he knew without a doubt it had been Danny's presence that had pulled him from the abyss he was slipping away in while he was unconscious, "Your voice chased away the others." McGarrett wasn't sure exactly how to put it into words. "When I was in the hospital, unconscious, some how I heard you when you'd come into the room. I remember you saying something about me being the death of you…" Steve chuckled at the shocked expression on Williams' face. "I take that look to mean you did say something like that."

"The first time I got to see you after surgery, God you looked so bad…" Images he wished he didn't have streamed into Danny's mind again. "But how?"

"I don't know how, but before I heard your voice I could hear all these others, Anton's, my father's when Victor had him, Hesse's voice, even Wo Fat's and Jameson's. It was like they were taunting me, reminding me of everything I had done wrong, all my failures; I was surrounded by them and darkness. But then I heard your voice and I just knew everything was going to be okay, that I was safe, that you had my back, so…thank you." McGarrett finished, meeting his friend's gaze.

Wow, Danny thought, which was honestly the only thing he could think at that moment. He knew his talkativeness could get annoying, hell Rachel had made that point quiet clearly near the end of their marriage. There had even been a time or two Steve had said he'd pay him money to shut up, but Danny had learned the verbal sparing the two of them did was their way of telling the other they cared, that they were there for each other no matter what. And now, for Steve to say it was his voice that may have saved his friend from slipping away in those early hours of his illness, there really wasn't anything Williams could say. So with all the certainty he had, with all the unspoken 'I'll always have your back' comments, Danny said the only thing that was appropriate.

"You're welcome."


End file.
